Spousal Support

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 17th January 2020
Series: The Hallmaster's New Wife

Characters: Thayde, Enamra, Pelon
Description: Thayde and Enamra talk about the pressure she is under.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 2, day 3 of Turn 10

Thayde

Enamra

"Thank you for helping, Harper Pelon, I don't know what I would've
done without you. " Enamra sighed as her Harper instructor began to
arrange the hides they'd just gone over.

"Just Pelon, Enamra." The man's smile was gentle. "Do you think maybe
you can get a better grasp on what they're asking now?"

She nodded. "I think so. I didn't know they were asking for pretty
much the same things. Their handwriting is awful." She didn't hear
the apartment doors open, so involved was she in looking at the new
list he'd written.

"You're just used to block letters, that's all. And remember, you
can say no. You don't have to agree to everything they ask for. " He
patted her shoulder. "You'll do fine. Just ask Jylanya for help if
you have more problems. "

"Are you sure you won't stay for dinner?"

"Thanks, but I've plans. " Pelon looked up. "Ah, Hallmaster, sorry to
intrude, but your wife asked me to stop by to help her. "

"Not at all, Pelon. Thank you for coming by to assist her." Thayde's
voice was cool, his face polite.

Pelon caught the cool tone, cleared his throat and nodded. "I'll see
you tomorrow, Enamra. I hope you both have a good evening. " He slid
by Thayde as Enamra waved then glanced up, smiled at Thayde absently
and went back to chewing her thumb as she went over the plain letters.

"Enamra, do you remember why we married?" Thayde asked.

That caught her attention and she blinked. "Of course I do." She
frowned, then caught the implication and her cheeks flamed
immediately. "I wouldn't! You know that! It's just that I needed his
help and..." Her voice trailed off and she swallowed. "Pelon's
married. So am I."

"I know," he said, softening a little. "But married or not doesn't
matter. You know how rumors spread, regardless of the truth. It's not
appropriate for him to be here alone in our quarters with you."

But she had needed help! She sighed, resolving to apologize to Pelon
the very next day, even as she gazed at the rest of the hides on her
table. She supposed if she needed his help again, she could just take
them to him instead of this little room. They could meet in the
Harper's classrooms, perhaps. It was just a lot to carry. "Sorry,
Thayde. I guess I wasn't thinking. Again."

Thayde went to the table and sat down in the seat that Pelon had
vacated. "Do you want to tell me about all of this?" he gestured to
the papers. "You nearly ripped my head off last night."

She frowned at him. "What are you talking about? I fell asleep before
you got home." She looked at the hides in her hand, then stacked them.
The desk had been a disaster this morning, almost enough to make her
leave once again. But she didn't want to bother Thayde with her
troubles or make it seem like she was ungrateful. "I just...it's
nothing...just a lot of requests for the ball. That's all. And some of
the writing was confusing." She shrugged.

"Oh, you were asleep alright," Thayde said, "and when I tried to come
to bed and spend some time with my wife you were less than pleased."
He looked at the stack in her hands. "Why are you taking all of this
on yourself?" He tapped the letters. "This is what the Headwoman is
for. The best part of being the Hallmaster's wife is that you can now
delegate tasks to others. If you don't want to be in charge of
deciding decorations, choose someone to be in charge, or arrange a
committee."

She stared at him, then tried to remember anything about the night
before. All she remembered was a horrible, exhausting headache and
wanting nothing more than to sleep. "I had a really bad headache last
night. I don't remember you coming home at all." She looked down at
the stack of hides in her hand, then back up at him. "But...Jylanya is
already busy, isn't she? I thought this was my job now." She gestured
to all of the hides on the desk. "All of it. "

"Jylanya job is to assist you in Hall activities and to make sure our
larder is stocked and to oversee the drudges. I'm the Hallmaster, but
I don't have to do everything myself, that's what my Masters are for,
to oversee tasks and duties that I can't... Or truthfully, sometimes
just don't want to. You could promote a drudge to be your assistant,
have them read your letters and inform you on the most pressing
matters."

She drew in her lower lip, chewing on it as she looked around the
hides. She hadn't even thought of trying to ask for an assistant. Most
of the drudges couldn't read, so they couldn't help and honestly, most
of them didn't like her. There were only a few that she recalled
fondly. She opened her mouth, closed it, then just slowly nodded.
"Okay."

Thayde reached out and touched her face. "I'm not trying to be pushy,"
he told her. "I just want you to see that you have options. If you
don't want to do any of those 'social' things that the other women
want, you don't have to."

"But they're expected of me now. The other ladies..." Her voice
trailed off. "They don't like me, Thayde. They're mean and...they talk
about me."

His face clouded. "What do you mean, they talk about you? What do they say?"

There moment she saw his face, she shouldn't have said anything.
"About how I talk. And how I can't read. And that... that I had a
baby before I married you." She looked down at her twisting fingers.
"That I'm useless. They didn't think I heard them. " She didn't want
to bring up the comments about Jalodwyn... she was afraid that they
were right about her. "So...I thought if I did this right, then
they'd stop and maybe like me a little. "

**Those wretched old wherries.** Thayde wanted to tie stones around
all of their necks and toss them all overboard. Why were women so
vicious? Couldn't they see that Enamra was doing her best? Why did no
one take into account her sweet nature and desire to please others? He
took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize.
What can I do to help?"

"I don't think you can, Thayde. Cause they're kind of right. It's
not like I was raised like them or know what I'm doing. They know I
was a drudge and I had a baby. They're not wrong, Thayde."

"They _are_ wrong. Just because you were a drudge and you had a baby,
which you didn't ask for, doesn't make you useless. You know more
about hardwork than any of them ever will. You have more perseverance
and endurance than they'll ever have." He reached out for her hands.
"I am so glad that you were not raised like them if that's what has
made them so nasty."

She flushed and laid her hands in his. "But I'm not smart like them.
I was raised to be a wife, not anything like this, Thayde. I don't
know what I'm doing. I don't even know where to start. I don't even
know if I want to do anything like this. I just...I just wanted to be
a good wife. What if I'm not good at anything else?"

"Enamra, I truly believe you could be good at anything you set your
mind to, but," he squeezed her hands, "if it's not what you want,
don't do it. If you just want to focus on being a wife then do that.
Your happiness is more important to me than anything else."

"I already promised them a ball." Enamra said softly. "But I don't
think I like the luncheons. I don't want to do those anymore. Or the
monthly socials that they asked for. Maybe just... maybe just one
thing a year? Would that be okay?" She asked. "And I'm sorry that I
was mean to you last night. I don't remember it. I'm also sorry about
not doing dinner again. I did make it tonight though. So you wouldn't
be hungry. "

"Whatever you want to do will be okay," Thayde assured her. "And hey,"
he hooked a finger under her chin, "don't worry about me, I was a
bachelor for a long time, I can feed myself now and again. I just want
to see you smile again." He remembered how it had been right before he
had left for Fleet Duty, how much more carefree and excited Enamra had
seemed, especially compared to recent days. Thayde wanted that back.

Enamra chewed on her lower lip, nodding. "Okay. And I am sorry about
last night. I've never refused you before and I shouldnt have. You
must have been pretty upset at me. "

"I wasn't upset," he clarified, "just... Confused. You don't have to
bottle things up and hide them from me."

"I don't want to worry you, Thadye. You're already doing so much, and
I need to learn how to do things. I'm trying, but sometimes I just
get...it just gets to be too much all at once." She looked around at
the office. "I kind of just left yesterday and when I got back I had a
huge headache and all I wanted to do was sleep. I didn't get much of
anything done yesterday." She rose. "I should really clean up
though...and get your dinner on the table."

"I'll set the table," he said, leaning over to press a kiss to her temple.

She finally smiled up at him, a slight curling of her lips. "Thank you. "

Last updated on the January 18th 2020

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